To the editor: On Sept. 11 the Planning Board approved the application for the gas station to go in by Thornwood Lane. The reasoning behind this can be understood if you watch the rerun or view it on your computer by going into the City web site, http://www.ci.dover.nh.us/ and click onto Dover Video on Demand (a marvelous tool). One has to go to page 2 to see the Sept. 11 meeting. So many have asked me what is happening that this seems the best way to let you know. The reasoning, though I do not like it, seems sound.

So now we in the outskirts of Dover will have the much needed gas station and convenience store that someone thinks we need. It is so necessary to check what is coming up before the ZBA and if it is something that you have an interest in, go to that meeting. All of the boards have rules and regulations and it behooves us to be familiar with them, although at times it seems to do no good.

I know that everyone who opposed this is as disappointed as I am, and I hope will keep an eye on the ZBA agendas from now on. And again thank you for your support on signing the petition against and speaking at the podium.

Marilyn FollansbeeDover

From Horrigan

To the editor: I would like to thank the voters of Durham and Madbury for renominating me in the Democratic Primary on Sept. 8. I am already working hard to be re-elected in November. I look forward to returning to the New Hampshire House in December 2012: there is a lot of work to be done.

I would also like to thank two of my colleagues who will not be returning when the New Hampshire House reconvenes on Dec. 5. They will both be missed, and I know we haven't heard the last from either of them.

Rep. Jenna Roberts was my neighbor in Concord as well as Durham: she sat two seats away from me in Representatives Hall. I didn't necessarily agree with her on every issue, but I quickly learned that she was always worth listening to. It was a pleasure serving with her.

I got to know Rep. Julie Brown better while serving with her on the Strafford County Executive Committee. Her compassion, her commitment to justice, and her encyclopedic knowledge of the inner workings of county and state government made her an extraordinarily valuable public servant. One of her top priorities as a legislator was strengthening county government, and if re-elected this will continue to be one of my top priorities as well.

State Rep. Timothy HorriganDurham

Job training

To the editor: Unemployed and seeking opportunity in a growing field? Consider lobbying! If you have talent and represent a Wall Street bank or multinational corporation, your earnings could easily top that of America's president and vice president combined. Failing that, look for a lucrative niche in the exploding corporate PR or political entertainment industry. No training or experience? No problem! Government-funded internships are available. Earn while you learn and make those valuable job contacts you'll need later on! To qualify, simply run for elected office!

With luck, new positions will open up this fall. NH's only post-doctoral student, Charlie Bass, is long overdue to graduate and join Judd Gregg on Wall Street after years spent squirreling away a priceless treasure trove in corporate opportunity. And NH's most promising student in years, freshman Frank Guinta, has demonstrated a near superhuman capacity for schmoozing with the big dogs and raking in the bucks. So, like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, Guinta is merely wasting valuable time by languishing in the classroom for another term!

Come November, let's do what any responsible tuition-paying parent would do and prepare for a successful launch! There's plenty of fresh unjaded talent waiting in the wings, and it's their turn to hit the books and learn the ropes!

Rick LittlefieldBarrington

About Woods

To the editor: We were delighted to welcome State Senate candidate, Phyllis Woods, to our home last evening for a Meet & Greet for our friends and neighbors. About 25 guests were welcomed to our "independent" household.

I became acquainted with Phyllis through our Parish and have come to believe she would be a great representative for us in the State Senate. Phyllis truly embodies her campaign slogan, "Integrity — Reliability — Character." As a former NH State Rep and RNC Committeewoman, Ms. Woods brings to the table a level of experience and a can do attitude that will help to ensure her success in the senate.

Above all else, Phyllis listens to the people. She is a strong advocate for education of our youth, and is concerned in maintaining our quality of life here in New Hampshire I encourage people of all political parties as well as independents to give her your support on Nov. 6.

Pamela HellerBarrington

Vote for Eves

To the editor: I am writing in support of Mark Eves, who is running for re-election to the Maine House of Representatives for District 146 (North Berwick and part of South Berwick).

Rep. Eves has done an excellent job in his first two terms of office.

Mark has taken a leadership role on the Health and Human Services Committee, in support of affordable health care for Mainers. For example, he opposed PL 90, a new law to deregulate insurance premiums in Maine. The new law has shown to increase health insurance premiums for a majority of Maine individuals and small businesses, particularly those living in rural areas in the state.

Most recently, Mark has spoken out in opposition to the efforts of Governor LePage and House Republicans to remove thousands of elderly, disabled, and working families from Medicare and Medicaid. Many of these people will now end up in Emergency Rooms, which is the most expensive form of health care. That cost will just be shifted onto other health-care consumers.

Instead of cutting benefits to the truly needy, Rep. Eves favors tax code reform that would raise needed revenue, while lowering the income tax burden on the vast majority of Maine residents. By contrast, the 2012 Republican budget, actually cut tax rates for the wealthiest Mainers and was paid for by cutting services to poor children and seniors prescription drug coverage. How does that help balance the budget?

Governor LePage and the Republicans always seem to favor laws that help the wealthy and big corporations, to the detriment of everyone else. Rep. Mark Eves does more than just give lip service to caring about the middle class and working families. That's why we need him in the Maine House. Economists say the recession is over, but too many hard-working people are still struggling to meet basic expenses, while shouldering more than their fair share of the tax burden. The government can't fix everyone's problems, but it can level the playing field by making the tax code more fair and providing affordable health care. That's why we need Mark Eves re-elected to the State House.

Rebecca HopperNorth Berwick, Maine

UNH pool

To the editor: Having followed with great interest the UNH Master Plan, particularly the plan for the future of the outdoor pool, two things jump out at me. First, it is quite obvious the university would really like to get rid of this thorn in their side, and the fact that it is a landmark in town and unique in the entire state of New Hampshire is beside the point.

Two times now I have read in the paper that the pool has had to be closed for days at a time because of health issues. I can hardly remember the last time this happened. I swim in it everyday and have never had an earache or other health concern.

To say that the water is so dark that the lifeguards have a difficult seeing the bottom is also not true. One wonders if the people making these accusations have really been to the pool.

As far as funding — my guess is that many of us pool supporters would happily contribute to a fund drive that would go toward making repairs that need to be done.

That the students need more indoor recreational space seems ludicrous to me. How about putting a few of their favorite machines in a designated room in each one of the dorms. This would help to alleviate the overcrowding in the larger centers.

The Durham outdoor pool is a historical landmark. To demolish it would be a grave and irretrievable mistake.

Patricia TerrillDurham

Council muffed it

To the editor: The Dover City Council muffed an opportunity in rejecting the proposal to seek designation of the city's portions of Route 108 as a "scenic and cultural byway" and thereby join other New Hampshire communities in abetting business and tourism growth.

Opponents of the Dover proposal stated "huge concerns" over advertising sign restrictions — essentially the same rules in effect on most New Hampshire highways and regulated in many community zoning laws. As the council chairman stated, Dover's current zoning restrictions are more stringent than anything the State program would impose.

The more than 1,000 miles of Scenic Byway-designated highways in New Hampshire include our state's entire 18-mile US Coastal Route 1-A through Portsmouth, Rye and Hampton Beach (where no one could argue "severe" advertising regulations or restrictions are in place).

Residents and tourists in our North Country travel through the White Mountains on designated scenic highways, as do those traversing our Connecticut Valley towns and cities.

Free State and Tea Party activists in the Rochester area targeted Dover's scenic highway proposal as an intrusion upon "liberty" and suggested some sinister United Nations influence. One wonders whether these "patriots" know about the Gen. John Stark ("Live Free or Die") Byway connecting Dunbarton, Goffstown, New Boston, and Weare?

This missed opportunity illustrates for Seacoast residents the misinformation, suspicion and confusion a handful of "anti-government" citizens can — and will — sow.

W. Arthur GrantConcord

Voters' choice

To the editor: Pick one, just one ...

A. Join a coalition of dole dependent trained lemmings blindly following a superbly skilled Pied Piper to a socially engineered promised land where sloth is rewarded with the fruit of your neighbor? s labor.

OR,

B. A decades long bloody conflict with Iran that Romney has promised as reward to his financial backers for the support. that will allow him to buy the Oval Office as a distressed property.